Monday, March 5, 2012

“I’m about to cry. It’s been five years and we are not even closer to finding Jonas.” – Mrs. Edita BurgosBy RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com
MANILA – For almost five years now, Mrs. Edita Burgos has been groping in the dark. Searching for her missing son Jonas,Mrs. Burgos faced one cover-up after another.

Mrs. Burgos went to the courts and availed of every legal remedy
there is, with the hope of finding her third child who was abducted by
suspected state agents on April 28, 2007.

Like any other hearing she religiously attended, Mrs. Burgos sat
silently as the Court of Appeals (CA) Special 7th Division began its
proceedings, February 28. It is the same court that heard and denied her
writ of amparo petition four years ago.

“I’m about to cry,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat.com shortly after the hearing. “It’s been five years and we are not even closer to finding Jonas.”

After the CA first dismissed the petition filed by Mrs. Burgos in
July 2008, Mrs. Burgos went to the Supreme Court. After almost two
years, the high court issued a resolution
in July 2010 directing the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to
investigate the disappearance of Jonas after noting significant lapses
in the police investigation. Before that, Mrs. Burgos said they sought
the help of the CHR but the investigation was closed when she was
“unjustly accused of being uncooperative.”

In its investigation, the CHR led by Commissioner Jose Mamauag found
that the abduction of Jonas is “not a simple case of kidnapping done by
some individuals within the military, but is, in fact, a part of the
entire counter-insurgency program of the past administration wherein
both military and police forces played a crucial role in its
enforcement.”

The CHR has asked the high court to direct Army Lt. Harry Baliaga Jr.
to produce Jonas. Baliaga, formerly assigned to the 56th Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA), was identified by witnesses as
one of those who abducted Jonas. The CHR recommended the filing of
kidnapping charges against Baliaga. The commission also urged the high
court to grant the petition for writ of amparo filed by Mrs. Burgos.....MORE

Vladimir Putin secured some 63.7 per cent of vote in Russia's
presidential election. The head of Central Election Commission declared
him the next president of the country.

The commission has counted more than 99 per cent of the ballots. “As you can see, the election finished in one round,” Vladimir Churov said, as he announced Putin’s landslide victory.

Gennady
Zyuganov scored 17.19 percent of the votes. In third place was
political newcomer Mikhail Prokhorov, who won 7.87 percent. Vladimir
Zhirinovsky and Sergey Mironov won 6.23 and 3.85 per cent of the vote
respectively..... MORE

International monitors have said that the video monitoring system
tested at Russian presidential polling stations exceeds everything they
saw in their home countries – or anywhere else in the world.

At a Moscow press conference soon after the last polling station
closed in Western Russia, monitors agreed that the elections were held
in a normal mode and without serious violations, but the web camera
system that allowed anyone to personally check the situation at polling
stations got the foreign specialists especially excited..... MORE

A selection of jewelry pieces belonging to the legendary Russian
singer Ludmila Zykina, famed for her lifelong passion for precious
stones, has fetched over $1 million at an auction in Moscow.

­Zykina knew that “diamonds are forever” long before she heard the
song from the Bond movie of the same name. Her collection of jewelry
featuring one-off pieces, including diamonds and emeralds of high
caliber and size, was the talk of the town for decades. Some
sought-after items were given to the Soviet legend as presents by heads
of states..... MORE

As most European countries sign the pact for tougher fiscal
discipline and provide new lifelines to troubled Greece, the outstanding
question is whether the recipe will really help?

And why there hasn’t so far been that much progress in addressing the underlying problems?

The
latest European data is disappointing. The unemployment rate in Europe
has hit a 14-year high of 10.7% in January, with inflation also up to
2.7% in February. The latest PMI Index for the Eurozone countries – an
indicator of business activity in the area – grew just 0.2 points last
month, but still remained pointing towards economic contraction..... MORE

LAGAWE, Ifugao — On the 22nd General Assembly of the Ifugao Bus and
Jeep Operators and Drivers Association (IBJODA), they invited as speaker
Mr George San Mateo, chairman of PISTON, a nationwide confederation of
drivers and operators. IBJODA claims a membership of 250 drivers and
operators.

San Mateo discussed the government’s “solution” to the oil price
hikes, the Pantawid Pasada, which has inconsistencies. He slammed the
oil deregulation law that allowed the oil industry practice of
increasing oil prices and thus the profits of the oil cartel.

Drivers in Ifugao have repeatedly complained about not receiving the
Pantawid Pasada due to technicalities that worked against them, for
example because of vehicle transfers that were not always registered
with the Land Transportation Office..... MORE

03/05/2012
Filipinos are getting more anxious about the economy and how it affects them, according to a Laylo Research Strategies survey.

The
Jan. 28-Feb. 6 poll, which covered 1,500 respondents, showed 65 percent
of Filipinos are anxious about where the country is headed. They
consist of the 25 percent who feel the nation is headed in the wrong
direction and 40 percent who belong to the undecided.

Asked, “In
your opinion, is the country in general headed in the right or the wrong
direction?” only 35 percent say the country is on the right track..... MORE

Senator-judges
have the option to abstain from giving a verdict in the impeachment
trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona but the vote would
only be two, either guilty or not guilty, according to Senate President
Juan Ponce Enrile.

Enrile, the presiding judge in the impeachment
proceedings, bared this recently as he added there’s no need (for the
senators to) explain (their vote).

“There are only two (choices),
guilty and not guilty. There would be no vote ‘with reservation’ but
they can (vote to) abstain,” he said..... MORE

03/05/2012
A top Palace official known for being
evasive to media queries appeared to have “levelled up” by keeping mum
on issues concerning the daily four-hour brownouts that has been
crippling significant investments in the entire Mindanao.

At the
weekend press briefing aired over the state-owned Radyo ng Bayan, deputy
presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said Energy Secretary Rene
Almendras has already been discussing the issue with the region-based
power cooperatives and distribution companies.

When asked as to
what they have been discussing or at least to give an update about the
matter, Valte said they would rather defer from answering the query,
even as she hinted that the Department of Energy, which has been
directly to solve over Mindanao’s power shortage concerns, would be the
best agency to explain on its details..... MORE

A lawmaker is
seeking to amend the 82-year-old Republic Act 3815 or the Revised Penal
Code saying the fine component and other values incorporated in the law
are still based on the 1930 price index.

Marinduque Rep. Lord
Allan Jay Velasco filed House Bill 5768 to adjust the outdated monetary
values with a formula utilizing the available data from the National
Statistics Coordination Board relating to Consumer Price Indexes.

“The
fine component and other values incorporated in the law, the amounts
are still based on 1930 prices, the year it was enacted. The massive
inflation and devaluation the currency has gone through renders some of
the RA 3815 provisions outmoded,” Velasco said..... MORE

By Charlie V. Manalo 03/05/2012
A senior member of
the House of Representatives yesterday chastised state finance advisers
for running after poor tobacco farmers and ordinary distillery workers
in their bid to raise more revenues for government, saying they should
instead apply pressure on the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to raise the
needed revenue for the government.

In an interview, Valenzuela
Rep. Rex Gatchalian, a member of the House committees on good government
and accountability and on rural development, said the Department of
Finance (DoF) should stop taking the “shorter and more convenient route”
to increase government finances by asking Congress to raise taxes anew,
in reference to House Bill 5727 which proposes to amend the so-called
“sin taxes” law by introducing a unitary tax system for tobacco and
alcohol products..... MORE

By Conrado Ching 03/05/2012
The Bureau of
Immigration has deployed additonal immigration officers in the Puerto
Princesa International Airport (PPIA) as it expected an influx of
foreign tourists to visit Palawan after the underground river in Puerto
Princesa was chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Immigration
Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said 10 immigration officers were
recently deployed in the PPIA to process arriving foreigners destined
for the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) and other renowned
tourist spots in Palawan.

David said foreigners have been going to
Palawan since last month when the PPUR’s inclusion in the New Seven
Wonders of Nature was announced..... MORE